Scott Clements -- What's My Line?Clements Talks About Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-Or-Better |
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Scott Clements is a World Poker Tour champion and one of the top no-limit hold’em players on the circuit, yet he is doing his best to let the rest of the poker world know that his Omaha game is just as good, if not better.
Clements has two World Series of Poker bracelets, his first coming in a 2006 $3,000 Omaha eight-or-better event and the second in a 2007 $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event. In 2009, Clements has made two WSOP final tables, both in Omaha and has collected $380,000 for his efforts, bringing his career totals to just under $4 million.
In event no. 27, the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event, Clements came oh-so-close to his third bracelet, succumbing to recent triple crown winner Roland de Wolfe. In this edition of What’s My Line?, Clements talks about a key hand during the tournament and offers up tips for beginners.
| Event | WSOP Event No. 27 | Blinds | 1,000-2,000 |
| Player | Scott Clements | Senovio Ramirez | Eli Elezra |
| Hand | Q Q 44 |
A964 |
K K43 |
| Chip Count | 64,500 | 139,500 | 16,100 |
The Hand
Eli Elezra raised to 7,000 and Senovio Ramirez called in late position. Scott Clements also called in the big blind and all three players saw a flop of QJ3.
Clements checked, Elezra checked and Ramirez bet 8,500. Clements check-raised the pot to 47,500, leaving himself with just 10,000 behind.
Elezra called all-in for his last 9,100 and Ramirez reraised, putting Clements in for what he had behind. They showed:
Ramirez — A964
Elezra — KK43
Clements — QQ44
The turn and river came 5J and Clements more than doubled up to about 145,000 in chips with his full house. Elezra was eliminated and Ramirez took a hit down to 75,000.
The Interview
Julio Rodriguez: I’m assuming that Q-Q-4-4 is not a hand you’d normally play in an eight-or-better tournament. What led you to play in this situation?
Scott Clements: I usually don’t play Q-Q-4-4, but this was the kind of situation where I was getting a multi-way pot and a discount since I was in the big blind. It also helped that I could close the action, making sure that I’m not paying any more to see the flop.
JR: You thought you were deep enough at this point to justify playing a speculative hand?
SC: Yeah, I’m playing that hand pretty much to hit a set. If I flop a set of fours instead, then I’m definitely going to play them a bit faster.
JR: Speaking of playing it fast, you decided to check raise the flop. Since there are two high cards on the flop and there is less likelihood for a low, why not wait for the turn to get your money in?
SC: I full potted at that point because I would be happy just to take it down right there, to be honest. I’m not really looking to play a huge pot for my tournament life against a huge draw. Luckily he only had the nut flush draw, but I would have been just fine with him folding.
Just to be clear, I actually checked blind in this hand.
JR: Any particular reason?
SC: Well, as you can see in the hand history, Eli (Elezra) was very short after his preflop raise and I thought for sure that he was going to ship any flop.
If he had shipped it and the other guy (Senovio Ramirez) called, then I can get my entire stack in there with the check-raise. Instead, he checked, the other guy bet and I was forced to leave about 10,000 behind after I potted.
JR: You mentioned that you would be fine with a fold and that was the reason for pulling the trigger on the pot-sized raise so early. Can you elaborate on your reasoning?
SC: In that game, nothing is really a huge favorite over another hand. It’s funny. Everyone was commenting on how aggressive I was playing in this tournament, but I was a complete nit compared to how I play in cash games. The key to all of it is just getting people to fold. Obviously you want to play your big hands, but usually even your strong holdings don’t have that big of an edge against your opponent.
Like at the final table, I had A-A-4-5 and I got it all in preflop against A-2-2-3. I mean, I had him pretty much as crushed as you can get it, covering most of his outs except for the deuce and I’m still only a 62/38 favorite. That’s one of the best situations you can get it pre, yet it’s not even close to a sure thing.
Unless of course, it’s on the flop with set over set. Which brings us back to the Q-Q-4-4 hand. Why not get as much in on the flop as I can, knowing that I’m going to be way ahead of any other sets and a decent favorite over any draws?
JR: When playing pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better, are you looking to see cheap flops with as many players as possible or are you raising more to try and get your stronger hands heads-up?
SC: I actually don’t try to get too many hands heads-up as I do in limit. When I play limit, I’m looking for heads-up situations. In pot-limit, I don’t want to see it as much because it’s not just one bet here and one bet there. There’s so much money that can get in at any time, so unless I have the big stack and I’m in position, I pretty much always want to be limping. Things changed at the final table, of course, because I had chips and we were playing short-handed.
There are other situations, but that’s my general thinking on that for that most part. Perhaps if I’m up against some passive opponents that I know I can take advantage of, then I’ll adjust my guidelines.
JR: Watching the tournament, it seemed to me that in this game the 10 big blind rule really goes out the window. Would you say the danger zone is more around five or six big blinds?
SC: Definitely, it’s probably that and you can even wait longer. I was short for a good portion of the tournament and at one point, I had 8,000 when the blinds were 400-800 and I wasn’t potting unless I had A-A-5 or better. It depends on the table, but there was a chance I’d even fold a hand as strong as A-A-K-8, looking for just the right opportunity to double up.
JR: You mentioned that things change during short-handed play.
SC: Yeah, you’re not going to see as premium of hands. That’s the thing you have to recognize. You’re going to have to steal a lot more and keep up the aggression. That’s the most important part of this game. Obviously, there are mistakes that can go along with that, but if you’re not putting your opponents to tough decisions then you aren’t playing aggressive enough short-handed.
JR: What’s the most common mistake you see being made in this game?
SC: The most common mistake I see people making is when they don’t know what kinds of hands are valuable preflop and what kind of hands are valuable post-flop, because they can be quite different.
JR: Anything else?
SC: If you are playing in a multi-way pot, then make sure you are drawing to the nuts one way or the other. Don’t stick dead money in there drawing to the second-nuts, unless you are heads-up and can limit the size of the pot.
Position and closing the action is also important. Let’s say I’m sitting there last to act, in a multi-way pot and an ace hits the river. My draw didn’t get there, but my 2-3 made the nut low. Sometimes, I’m just going to pot it back with a weak high and the nut-low to drive out better high hands. Other times I’m just going to call if I think I might get quartered or worse. By being in position, it allows you to decide for yourself whether or not you want to reopen the betting.
Remember that it’s never that cut and dry. Board texture determines how valuable the nuts are. Having A-2 on a 8-6-4 board isn’t as valuable as having A-3 on a 8-4-2 board. Yes, both make the nut-low, but you are less likely to get quartered holding the A-3.
JR: Some beginning players may have trouble figuring out what a pot sized raise is. Do you have any tips to help novice players quickly do the math?
SC: The best thing I can think of is to imagine your call first, then add up everything in the middle. The total number you get would be a pot-sized raise.
JR: Thanks Scott.
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